Getting Rid Of Our TV Was The Right Decision

We got rid of our TV in early 2009. We were staging our house to put it on the market, and trying to make it feel as big and open as possible. So the TV and the table it was on were banished into storage. When we moved a few months later, we opted to leave the TV behind, and have been without it for the last 16 months.

Obviously, that means we don’t pay for cable or satellite TV. We have cable internet (a necessity since we work from home and do all of our work over the internet), and we also have a $9/month Netflix subscription. Between Netflix and a laptop, we have no need for a TV or traditional programming at all. There’s no hulking entertainment center in our living room. In fact, our living room only contains seating (a chair, couch, and loveseat that we got from my husband’s aunt when she replaced her furniture last year), a footstool, a big plant, a little cabinet to hold our son’s books, and a coffee table. It’s a relatively large room, and I love how open it feels. It’s very inviting – plenty of comfy places to sit – and encourages conversation and togetherness, since the seating all faces each other, rather than facing a TV.

When we want to watch a movie or a TV show, we set the laptop on the coffee table and either watch a DVD from the library or Netflix, or we watch something from the extensive Netflix streaming options. Yes, our screen is only 17 inches, but we thoroughly enjoy our setup, and especially like that we can take it down and put it away when we’re finished. Over the last year, we’ve seen all or part of a variety of shows: Dexter, Lost, Prison Break, Weeds, Bones…. all shows that would normally have required at least basic cable TV, and in some cases, premium channels like Showtime and HBO. And we haven’t seen a single commercial in over a year and a half. One of the major bonuses of watching TV shows via Netflix is that a show that normally takes an hour (like Lost) on regular TV only takes about 42 minutes on Netflix, because there are no commercials. I’m especially grateful for the lack of commercials lately, because I’m sure that every second one has been political mudslinging for the last couple months, and I can definitely do without that.

Our son has pretty much always lived without a TV. He was less than a year old when we got rid of our TV, and hadn’t yet figured out how to turn it on (we never turned it on when he was awake). But we have an iPod that we let him play with whenever he wants. We mostly use it as a music player and book reader, but we’ve also downloaded a bunch of free toddler games to it, and our son loves to play them. They require him to constantly interact with the game – usually they will hold his interest for about 15 minutes, and then he’s ready to move on to something else. But about a month ago, we added a Netflix app to our iPod. It allowed us to access the streaming Netflix library on the iPod anytime we had wi-fi internet access. Our son quickly figured out how to get into the Netflix app, scroll through to the kid movies, and watch whatever he wanted. We started noticing that instead of playing a game for15 minutes and then moving on to play with his blocks or read a book, he would sit and stare at the iPod, watching a movie, until we took it away from him. It was as if he was in a trance. He was glued to the screen, watching The Cat in the Hat and Dinosaur Train, over and over again. He didn’t have to think or do anything like he does with the games – there was no interaction required, so he would just sit there forever, watching movies.

I’ll admit, it did make my life easier. I was able to work without being interrupted every 3 minutes to come build a block city or read a book. I truly do understand how it gives parents a break to be able to plunk a kid down in front of a TV. And at least the Netflix movies didn’t have any commercials. But after about two weeks, both my husband and I realized that the Netflix app on the iPod had to go. Our son was never choosing to play the games anymore. Every time he picked up the iPod, he would immediately opt for a movie instead, and he rarely stopped watching until we took it away from him. So we removed the app. Our son was frustrated that day and the next, looking for the Netflix icon on the screen. But by the next day, he had forgotten about the movies. He went back to playing games on the iPod every once in a while. He stopped asking for it constantly. He went back to asking me to play with him all day long.

Our brief experiment with having quazi-TV available to our son proved to us that we made the right decision when we got rid of the TV. I know that if we had one in the living room, we would either be constantly monitoring to make sure he wasn’t watching TV, or else we would have just started to give in and let him watch it. The tiny screen on our iPod had a magnetic hold over him when it was playing a movie, and I have no doubt that a big TV screen would be the same way – probably worse. And it would have included commercials too. I’d much rather that he spend his early childhood playing in the backyard, going to the park, building cities out of blocks, and reading books. And in terms of money, our $9 Netflix subscription is definitely a lot cheaper than most cable or satellite TV packages. (No, Netflix is not paying me to write this post!)

Have any of you given up your TVs? If not, do your children seem to be hypnotized by the TV when it’s on? If you’ve kept your TV and have children, have you figured out a way to effectively limit them to little or no TV?

Comments

It’s been nearly two years since my husband and I gave up t.v. and yes, it’s GREAT. I really wish that everyone would at least try it for a month.

We decided to try it first without Netflix and haven’t decided to get it yet (though perhaps we will eventually). We’ve just had so much to watch online! We really have more than we can or want to keep up with. We mostly watch stuff for free through Hulu, Fora, TED talks, YouTube, and network sites. We’ve also gotten a few DVDs through our library, though I had sort of forgotten about that, to tell you the truth. It’s just so easy to pick something out online. I don’t think we’ve bought or rented a single DVD since the switch, but we did download two pay movies and plan to do that again sometime.

Really, it’s just too convenient. We can watch stuff pretty much on our own terms with even less hassle than a DVR (and we used to have a really awesome homemade DVR). Commercials are still pretty tolerable, especially compared to cable. I was in a hotel recently and decided to check out cable television. It was AWFUL! I could hardly find anything I was interested in and the ads were soooo long. And the political ads were particularly annoying. I don’t feel deprived one bit!

Plus, we were able to get rid of our two televisions. It’s nice to not have them and the related clutter. And we got rid of the noise clutter, too, since we don’t leave stuff on now just to have something on. That was really weird at first, but then I realized how much clearer I was thinking. Now I go over to peoples’ homes and wonder how they can think straight trying to have a conversation with guests and listening to a t.v. on in the background, too. It’s just so distracting! I really do worry what that does to us — and especially kids — when there’s almost always a t.v. on. It does get addicting.

We are pretty much in the same boat as you, but still with an actual tv. It’s small, and on top of the dresser in our bedroom, and we pretty much only watch it when we put on an episode of something from Netflix before bed.

We don’t pay for cable or internet (we didn’t have a computer for months and now “borrow” from the neighbors to check our e-mail or whatever sometimes, but it’s really unnecessary since we’re both on the computer at work all day).

I used to be a tv junkie and not sure what happened over the years. Just lost my taste for it, to the point where watching most regular programming just leaves me astounded at how stupid it is, not to mention the commercials.

So while I grew up watching it and “turned out fine”, I won’t be trying the same with my kid! I don’t see us getting rid of it, but whatever she watches will be very limited in time and choice of program.

We have a rule for the kids, No Screens on a School Night. It has been working out fairly well, especially in their acceptance of it, but I still don’t quite know if it’s enough. I personally watch 1 to 3 hours of commercial free Netflix TV or Hulu each week to unwind.

Mrs Money – Sometimes I think he knows more about that thing than I do! He’s got the touch screen all figured out… on a flight last spring, he was trying to touch the screen on the seat back in front of us to make it change. Everyone always jokes that if you want a computer problem figured out, ask a kid – I would say that’s true :)

When I was single, I had no TV. It was because I learned about myself when I was a child living in my parents’ house: If no one turned it off, I would watch it until the national anthem came on. (Do you remember when they played the national anthem on TV before all programming went off?… It was sometime about 1:30am back in those days.)

Anyway, I didnt have or want a TV, and if I sublet an apartment those days I would put the owner’s TV in the closet (with the screen facing the back of the closet) while I lived there, until it was time to move out. But when I got married, it all changed, as my wife did not want to be without one.

I agree, no TV is better. I got more done with all the time I had; I wasnt being brainwashed by the political/partisan crap that subsitutes for citizenship these days; I did more thinking for myself; I didnt have to spend endless hours watching commercials for products that are of no bearing on my life; and so on and so forth, etc.

I have a 20 month old boy, who luckily doesn’t really like TV. He’ll watch it for a bit if there is something that he really likes on the screen (at this moment, horses and fish!) but won’t watch more than a minute or so if I’m not with him.
That said, I know it would be quite easy for him to become addicted, I’ve watched my friend’s children and they are just in a trance, like you said your son was, but for an entire movie or a couple of (imo scary!) children’s shows at a time.
So the plan is to slowly get rid of it. At the moment I just have a 30cm 20yo TV which i was given, in my room, as there is one show I love to watch and a lot of TV is free-to-air in Australia, you can buy pay tv but the major channels are available free, and one is ad-free. So using my internet is not actually cost-effective, plus I’m a single mum so when I’m home alone or at night I do like to have some sounds around me. Eventually, I want to get rid of it entirely.

Oh, how I wish our TV would magically disappear! I grew up without a TV, but my husband grew up in a house where the TV was (and is) almost always on. I turn it on to watch movies because I find it makes good background noise when I am sewing, knitting or crocheting (music is too distracting). However, my husband will turn the TV on and park in front of it for hours, night after night. To be fair, he works exceptionally hard during the day and just wants to come home, eat dinner and fall asleep, but it drives me nuts. Cable is included in our rent, so I don’t see it going away in the near future either. I’m more likely to pick up a book if I have some “free time.” I like watching the weather and the local news in the mornings, but that’s about it. I’ve told my husband that I don’t want our children (when they come along) to even know that the TV is more than a place to collect dust until at least the age of 2.

For budget reasons, I got rid of cable TV this past spring, which means my television is used only for watching DVDs. I use hulu.com to watch certain shows…but find that instead of my former-TV-lifestyle of watching a couple hours a night, I’ll watch a show on hulu and then be bored with it and end up doing a project around the house or reading.

I do not have kids, so I am happy you mentioned the netflix app. I’ll be using it on my ipod touch!

My boyfriend and I just moved in together 2 months ago and we don’t have a TV. The hubby didn’t own a TV for nearly a year and I had just basic cable before but never used it. We have “date nites” when we do dinner and a movie at home. We have the exact same setup, Netflix streaming on a laptop propped on a chair in front of the couch. If there’s a show that I’m curious to see, then I’ll search it on Netflix, Hulu, or Youtube. But yea, I’ve noticed we’re both more productive without the T.V. Chores and errands get done and we go to bed on time :)

I’m glad that you’re limiting tv/movie time for your son. It definitely allows kids to use their creativity and intelligence :)

We had an old TV for years – when we moved about 2.5 yrs ago we decided to get the big flat screen – so we did and it was fun but then it broke just after the warranty. Although we got a killer deal on it I am sickened to think how much we paid for to break less than 2 yrs later. During this time we got our finances in order and got rid of our cable. So we made the decision to not replace it – at least not until later – well that was over a year ago. And for the most part I don’t miss it – we use our laptop to watch movies/hulu/netflix. We bought a $50 tv tuner that we can hook the antennae into to get PBS and local channels. The only thing I really miss is our Wii that we didn’t have for very long before the TV broke. So I have actually considered a smaller TV but it just seems silly to have one for the Wii only – if any of you have thoughts on how to work around that it would be great. I love that our kids 1 and 2.5 don’t have a TV and don’t get much screen time! Have read this blog for a while but never posted – thanks so much for your work on this blog!

We got rid of the cable almost 2 yrs ago and life has been better since then!! We don’t watch tv just because we need to get our money’s worth of cable!! If we want to to, there’s a couple of free channels (which my dd watches, there’s a kids channel in that! she watches it while she gets ready in the morning, but that’s about it) and there’s dvds from the library. so far so good!

I gave up the TV when I found out we would have to purchase a converter box. Even with the government coupon I was too cheap to go out and buy it. The funny part is I LOVE TV!
We watch Hulu and in the summer we are on Netflix (again, I too cheap to make it a year round activity!).
It’s been great. I realized how tied I was to the TV schedule. I don’t mind waiting a week or so to watch some of my favorite shows and the best part is you don’t have to watch political ads!

TV is like a drug for small people, they want it on all the time and get cross with you if denyed it. My step daughter also will sit as if in a trance, it worries me, you can ask her a question and she ignores you or just gives a one word answer without looking away from the set. For these reasons I try to limit her TV watching as much as possible.

When my son was 3 (he’s 10 now) I severly reduced it because of how mcuh he was getting at daycare & because of the negative impact it coudl have on his neural developement.

We own a TV still. I write individual chores on mini post it notes & stick them on there so he remembers what still needs done after school. I reuse post-its as much as I can. And that’s it’s primary function now. During the winter we tend to have a lot of PBS documentaries on because it get too cold t move at time :)
A standard week it’s just Friday movie night, I watch a show on Thursdays and we watch an hour of PBS on Sundays. I’ve been missing my Thursday thing due to football practices but that’s what re-runs are for. Near spring when it gets to the point my show is having re-runs the TV will be on even less.
If it snows or rains more then 15 minutes my son does get to play the game console someone gave us for an hour or until it stops raining with a 4 hour max. It works for us but it’s doesn’t rain/snow much here but when it does – Geez! It’s a nice bonus & puts a silver lining in the cloud for him. We have tons of books & various engineering toys for the rest of his down time.

We got rid of our TV after football season was over in 2010. I was planning on getting it back for the next NFL season with basic cable just like we had as a compromise for my husband. He gave up ESPN but still gets to have FOX. In the meantime I researched DVR device that hooks from your computer to an antenna. Someone gave us an antenna when they were moving. Now we still get to DVR fox and watch the games on computer!

Now, we do still have two TVs. But, they are in our “game room”. They are hooked up to game systems so two people can play against each other in one player games. Honestly, my husband hasn’t had anyone over to play games like that since we were married 3 years ago. I am waiting for him to decide we don’t need all that junk in the “game room”. We really don’t watch those TVs or play the games very often. Maybe once a month.

His mom might move in with us if she sells her house and then she’d need that room so, we might be able to get rid of everything then! I just want it to be his choice.

Something I noticed recently… I eat more when I watch TV. IT’S THE ADS!!! I noticed because when we DVR something on the computer you skip forward 30 seconds without seeing the ads, the screen goes blank for a second. With cable DVR you still saw the ads! I didn’t always eat what I saw an ad for but I was eating all the time!

just read an article last week about how any screens change the brainwaves you use. Scary!

I think its great that you got rid of your TV. My wife and I stopped watching TV earlier this year and it has been a wonderful experience. Obviously there are the monthly cost savings but more than that without the TV we find ourselves more productive in our businesses, spend more time reading, listening to music and just enjoying each others company more. Before, it was just plop down in front of the TV and stare at the box for a few hours. Life has become so much better!

We have been without a TV for about a month due to a break-in. Other than the fact of feeling violated because someone broke into our home, honestly I couldn’t be happier. The kids (ages 3, 10, & 11) haven’t suffered in the least. The 3 year old, especially, would be in a catatonic state when the TV was on. And when it wasn’t on, he would almost constantly ask me to watch something. He NEVER asks now, and just plays by himself or with his siblings. There wasn’t even a hard transition period – we were like “We no longer have a TV,” and his response was “OH NO!!! Well, OK” (scampers off to go play). That surprised me the most. I figured he’d be scarred for life! People – including kids(!) – can survive without TV. I swear! I can’t promise we’ll never have a TV again, but it is definitely now on the bottom of my “wants” list. -Carrie

Pretty much my entire adult life, I have not had a TV. I have a massive void in my pop culture knowledge beginning in 1993. I don’t remember anything beyond Kids in the Hall, Ren and Stimpy and Mystery Science Theater 3000 (with Joel, not Mike).

I have been wondering, when we have kids, how weird they will be growing up without a TV. I’m not worried about it until they start making friends and going to school. And they realize there’s a whole alternate non-reality with cartoons and commercials and breakfast cereals that we hid from them! And they’ll come home from school wanting Nikes and Barbies. We’ll be screwed.

Heather,
I grew up without a TV. My parents got rid of theirs when I was born, and I didn’t have one until I moved in with my husband in 2001. I missed most of the pop culture of the 80s and 90s, and I still turned out ok :) Yes, I came home from school wanting Barbies and Twinkies and Rainbow Brites, but my parents dealt with those issues as they came up, and I would definitely say that all the time I spent outdoors was a better investment than if I had spent it watching TV. Hopefully our son will feel the same way 30 years from now.

I am so on the opposite side of this! We have a tv…two in fact. We also have a decent size cable bill. I would probably be fine getting rid of the tv. I do have quite a few shows I like to watch, but with Hulu, etc, not to mention Netflix, I am sure I could manage. And even of the shows I watch, I am cutting back. My husband, however, stays up way too late sometimes watching mindless crap. And we would have to be a seasonal TV-free family. I think mentioning getting rid of the TV during football season is probably grounds for divorce in his book :) Luckily I am just as big a fan as him, so it would never come to that. And I would love to have just basic network cable or whatever, because pretty much whatever I do watch is on network. But in order to have the DVR, we have to have digital cable. Which I know is a lame reason for paying the big bill, but we never watch anything when it is actually on and my husband is unwilling to go back to the old fashioned recording on a VCR (though I am willing!) I can’t stand actually have to watch the commercials :)
As for kids and TV – my daughter, who is 2 1/2, does watch a bit. I prefer she watch less, but I like to shower and know she is occupied and not trying to ride the dog or redecorate my bedroom. She watches either PBS or NicJr. No commercials, so I don’t have her asking for the latest gadget, but maybe she is too young for that anyway. To be clear, I would actually love to be TV free because I feel like a slave to it. And I would love for my daughter to not watch any. I will say, though, what she does watch actually has some educational content to it. I am not saying it is a substitute for parenting or anything like that, but occasionally she will throw something out there, and I am like where in the world did you learn that? Oh yeah, Dora.

Hi Frugal Babe, I read all the time and have for years, but barely ever comment.

The TV issue is huge for me. I grew up in a house where it was on ALL the time, a tv in EVERY room but the bathroom and my room (except for a couple years, including one summer when I watched Mystery Science Theater 3000 every night at midnight – Had to mention it b/c Heather did in her comment! :) But when I was little I had trouble falling asleep at night because it was so loud in the other room, and I remember times my parents would snap at me if I interrupted them when something they were particularly interested in was on. I enjoyed watching some shows and still watch a bit, especially online, but overall I think I would be fine without it and I’ve always REALLY hated commercials. Of course who do I go and marry but a (great) guy who wants to watch it ALL the time, especially live sports, which cannot be watched on Netflix or online and instead require a more expensive cable package. :( I get really frustrated about this issue and it’s nice to hear a couple of other people out there who struggle with their TV differences in their relationships, but sometimes I just don’t know what to do. Like Kaytee mentioned, I’m especially worried about what will happen when we have kids.

Courtney and Kelly,
I also married a guy who loves sports, especially football. He grew up watching it all the time, and for the early years of our relationship we watched football together every Sunday. But he’s found that he actually prefers listening to the games on the radio, because it allows him to get other stuff done at the same time. On Saturdays he listens to his college team play, and on Sundays he often listens to an NFL game, but he’s able to work in the yard or around the house at the same time. In addition, he’s found a website (channelsurfing.net) that allows him to watch live sports online if he wants. Maybe one of those solutions will help – good luck!

we have a tv at home. we moved to the us 10 years ago, and at the beginning, it helped me to learn the cultural norms, jokes, things common to those who lived here all their lives but unknown to me. after a while, watching tv was like chinese torture. i grew up with in a household, where tv was on all the time. my parents mostly watched news and movies. i was surprised at myself when i realized i don’t like watching tv anymore. i don’t open it during the day at all.

i have a 3 yr old. we had our home network system hooked to the tv. i have some cartoons in our computer that i let her watch from time to time. one of them is a japanese anime called heidi of the alps that i used to watch when i was a kid… 30 years ago! another is barbapapa, which is a german origined environmentally conscious anime. anyway, i digress.

when we visited family in our home country this summer, she was exposed to tv. she didn’t understand why she couldn’t watch a certain episode of a cartoon again or why the songs abruptly ended in the middle during a commercial when she just began to sing along:)) there she also learned to “change the channel”. even then, possibly because of ther age, she gets bored after 15 minutes and began to play by herself ignoring the tv. when we came back, whenever she asked for tv i was able to divert her attention most of the time by reading a book, or playing with her, leaving aside whatever i had been doing at the time. i always preferred reading to watching tv, and i am hoping she will too.

as for myself, i now cut my tv time to about 1% compared to 5 years ago. my husband likes to watch movies evey night. he also loves soccer. so we have netflix account, and an internet membership to our home country’s tv channels, so he can watch soccer games realtime. the good thing is he switches tv on after kid goes to sleep:) bad thing is it distracts me and i have to leave the room if i want to do something else, such as reading a book, or simply think.

i wrote all this, because i still haven’t decided whether tv as an object in the room and tv as the continuous uncontrolled streaming are two different things. sometimes, i think the screen is as bad as the channels streaming through it, because it is still an object of focus, especially if it’s a big lcd:) other times when i find myself glued to my laptop screen surfing the net, i think to myself size doesn’t matter.

Our son is now 1 year and 10 months. He’s seen about half an hour (or 20 minutes, to be exact) of Moomin tv series almost daily. It is a procedure where he curls up on couch next to mommy or daddy, sees one episode, and often also points out things (and we explain him some things). He knows well enough to ask for it every once in a while, and knows that’s all he gets.

On an airplane, we’ve given him more to watch if he’s been bored, and then vacation has been followed by few days without any tv.

We have a large tv we rarely open. I know this sounds cheezy, but as a family, we mostly watch operas from there, every few weeks – the kid loves the music and drama and close-ups on faces. My husband watches movies from the tv once all the others are in bed. I only use it for console games :) Our son is not allowed to use the remote and is OK with that (it seems that if you are denying something all the time, he eventually learns. Sometimes he might try his luck if we turn our backs and the remote is invitingly close.) He’s not that into tv, though – we’ve noticed that 30 minutes is his maximum attention span. He typically asks for another episode after the first one but on a couple of tries, has never made it through the second one right away.

This approach suits us – it gives us some breathing time while not abandoning our kid alone in front of the tv.

I only just discovered your blog through Joshua Becker’s minimalist blog, and this TV post of yours is spot on!

I’ve always been uneasy about young kids & screens. We haven’t had a television in 15 years. But we have computers, a DVD player and a Nintendo DS. My husband and I were wondering where to go with the DVD watching: our son – soon to turn 4 – loves it too much and will do hours and hours in a day if we let him, similar to the experience you had with your son… He’s getting twice 20 minutes, which I find already too much…

So, the conscientious mum bit and all that, I’ve been doing a bit of research into television and what it will do to children developmentally, and I must say I was so horrified at my findings I decided to write a post about it to sound the alarm. Those interested can read my article “Babysitter from Hell: 14 Reasons why you should ban your television from you home” here. IMHO it is nothing short of criminal that this knowledge is not more widely distributed/publicly accessible. If more parents knew about this, kids’ screen time would be drastically reduced in every home in the country!

I’d just like to put my 2 cents in here regarding TV watching and children. I myself grew up in the 1960s watching a boatload of TV, but in spite of that I turned out to be an intelligent, responsible, concerned adult. I also raised three sons who not only watched boatloads of TV, but play(ed) an inordinate amount of video games as well. They turned out to be intelligent, responsible, concerned young men. We are also thin and healthy.
I think that, like anything else in this world, it’s less the fact of TV watching than who is doing the watching. We dumped our cable TV hook-up about 6 years ago, mainly because there didn’t seem to be anything good on TV anymore. But even before that we ate dinner together as a family every night, were kind to one another, laughed a lot, read a lot of books, and were concerned with one another’s welfare and interests. My sons didn’t spend every waking moment watching TV and DVDs, but neither did I set a timer to make sure they didn’t watch too much. Some days they watched what seemed like a lot, while others they spent the whole day playing with toys, reading books or drawing, etc. I allowed them to make the choices, although I did reserve judgment in terms of what they watched.
My whole point is that I think so long as one provides a home of unconditional love and mutual respect the children will turn out to be wonderful human beings.